Tower-wagon.



W. V. YANDELL.

TOWER WAGON.-

A'PPLIOATION FILED Nov. 21, 191p 1,091,41 9. Patented Mar. 24, 1m

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W. V. YANDELLJ TOWER WAGON. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 191E).

Patented Mar. 24,1914

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W. V. YANDELL. TOWER WAGON.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 21, 1910 1 091,419 Patented Mar. 24, 191 1 4SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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TOWER WAGON.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 1910 1,09 1,41 9, Patented Ma1i24, 1914L 4SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UNITED STATES PATENT onFioE.

WILLIAM 'V'. YANDELL, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

TOWER-WAGON.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 24 1914 Application filedNovember 21, 1910. Serial No. 593,485.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VVILLIAM V. YANDELL, acitizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county ofLos Angeles and State of California, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Iowe1-\/Vagons, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to driving and steering mechanism for motortrucks and particularly for emergency tower wagons for street railwaywork.

The object of the invention is the provision of mechanism for drivingand steering a vehicle of this character whereby the vehicle may beturned in the shortest possible space.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a front drivingmechanism for wagons of this character which will permit the mounting ofthe motor upon the truck body and which provides a flexible connectionbetween the motor and the driving axle so that the vehicle may be springmounted.

A further object of the invention -is the provision of means forsteering the vehicle by power and independent means for steering thevehicle by hand and the above object is accomplished by providing apivoted truck which is operated by power and pivoting the wheels uponthe truck so that they mi be operated independently thereof by hand.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an auxiliarymotor carried upon the body of the vehicle which may be utilized forsteering the vehicle or for raising and lowering the tower.

Further objects of the invention will appear as the following specificdescription is read in connection with the accompanying drawings whichform a part of this application, and in which;

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsection on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal sectionon the line H of Fig. 1. Fig. i is a similar section on the line -5 ofFig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation taken oppositely froin Fig. 1and with parts broken away. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view throughone of the wheel hubs.

Referringvmore particularly to the draw ing 1 represents the bed of thevehicle which is supported upon channel iron sills 2 havrr therefrom thespring bracking dependin ets 3 upon wlnch the rear-supporting axle 4a iscarried in the usual manner. The usual wheels 5 are of course mountedupon the axle so as to support the rear end of the wagon. The forepartof the wagon is slightly raised and has secured to its underneath sideone member 6 of a fifth wheel whose opposite member 7 is secured to thefront wheel truck 8 which has the semielhptic springs 9 secured tothefront thereof and the springs 10 secured to the springs 9 and to apair of depending arms 11 carried by the rear of the truck. The axlewhich is connected to the springs by the clip bolts 12 is shown to beconstructed of parallel bars 13 and 14 connected together by bridgepieces 15 and 16 the latter being arranged'in the center of the bars andsupporting suitable bearings 17 for the spindle shaft 18.

The driving motor herein illustrated has a steam engine as shown at 19mounted. upon the forward end of the bed and connected to operate thecrank shaft 20 which is geared to a vertical driving shaft by means ofbevel gearing 21 which is in mesh with a similar gear 22 carried upon asleeve 23 which surrounds the driving shaft- 24:. The driving shaft maybe either splined in the sleeve or square so that it is adapted torotate with the sleeve but is permitted to slidetherein to accommodatethe action of the springs as will hereinafter be dez ribed. The drivingshaft 24 extends down through the sleeve and is connected at its lowerend to a universal joint 25 which is in turn connected to a similaruniversal joint 26 through a link 27 thereby flexibly joining the drivinshaft and the difierential stub shaft 28 which is provided on its lowerend with a gear 29 in mesh with the gearing 30 secured to the inner endsof the spindle shafts 18.

As before stated the spindle shafts 18 are mounted in bearings 17 in thebridge pieces 16 and these shafts are further journaled in bearings 31carried by the bridge pieces 15 and are connected at their outer ends touni versal joints 32 which connect the shaft spindles The spindles 33pass freely through the hollow steering spindles 34 and are connected tothe hubs 35 of the wheels 36 by means of cross pins 37 so that thewheels tensions and thereby steer the vehicle by turning the wheels, asteering post 39 15.

mounted upon the raised foot board 40 and has passing therethrough asteering rod or shaft 4lvupon the upper end of which is mounted theusual steering wheel 42. The lower end of the steering rod or shaft isstepped in a bearing carried by the bed plate and has securedimmmediately thereabove a gear 43 which is in mesh with a segment 44secured to a sleeve 45 mounted to rotate upon the sleeve 23. This sleeveextends downwardly past the lower member 7 of the'fifth wheel and hassecured thereto a bevel gear 46 which is in mesh with a verticallydisposed segment 47 pivoted upon'a bracket 48 depending from the bedplate. The segment has a depending extension 49 which is connected toashifter rod50 whose outer end is in turn connected to a lateral arm 51carried by the right hand steering spindle 34. The steering spindles areinterconnected by a rod 52 which connects the arm 51 with a similar arm53 on the opposite steering spindle. By rotating the steering shaft 41in either direction the sector 44' is moved in one direction or theother thus turning the sleeve 45 and the gear 46 which operates upon thesegment 47 and oscillates the extension 49 which being in connectionwith the shifter rod 50, moves the wheels to the right or left accordingto the movement of the steerin shaft.

Mounted upon the bed on the opposite side of the truck from the maindriving engine is an auxiliary steering and tower opcrating engine 54which is connected to drive a crank shaft 55 journaled in the bearing 56upon the bed plate and having connection with the steering and towerraising shaft 57 through the gears 58 and 59. This steering and drivingshaft has clutch members 60 and 61 mounted on its opposite endsadapted'to engage the opposite clutch members 62 and 63 carried upon thesteering shaft 64 and upon the tower raising shaft 65 respectively. Nomechanism has been shown for shifting these clutches into and out ofengagement but as such mechanism is well known, it is hardly thoughtnecessary to enter into a description of the same here in. The steeringshaft 64 is provided intermediate its length with a worm 66 which isadapted to engage a worm segment 67 formed on the lower member 7 of thefifth wheel so that when the clutch 60.62 is in engagement and theengine 54 rotated in the proper direction (and it must be understoodthat said engine is reversible), the truck 8 will be turned in theproper direction.-

VVhen the clutch 6062 is thrown out of engagement and the clutch 6163 isthrown into engagement, the tower raising shaft shaft 70 which isconnected to said gear and which carries the cable drums 71.

- A conventional form of sliding tower has been particularly shownherein which comprises a section 72 secured to the frame of the vehicleand a section 73 slidably mount ed therein and having a platform '74mounted upon its upper end. The section 7:2 carries suitable pulleys 75over which the cable 76 from the drums is adapted to pass, the lower endof the cable being of course connected to the lower portion of the section 73.

The gear 69 is preferably slidably mounted upon the shaft 70 so that itmay be slipped to permit the operation of the drums by hand and in orderto accomplish this the opposite end of the shaft is provided with asquared end 77 to receive a crank and a ratchet wheel 78 is mounted uponthe shaft and adapted to be engaged by the pawl 79 pivoted to thechannel iron sill adjacent the same.

The members of the fifth wheel are connected together by suitable clipsor cars 80 and the axle and driving shaft are braced by means of struts81 which extend from the depending arms 11 to the axle. A suitableboiler 82 is shown and water tanks 88 mounted beneath the bed 1 in sucha manner as to be out of the way and to permit the bed plate to be freefor the reception of tools, repairing paraphernalia and the like, thefuel tank 84 being mounted beneath the seat. The throttle controllinglevers for the main and auxiliary engines may be mounted upon thesteering post or any other convenient point and the reverse levers forthe engine may be in the form of foot pedals as is now commonlypractised in automobile construction. These points being immaterial andof no import as regards the features of the invention, have not beenillustrated or described in detail herein but it is to be understoodthat such controlling levers are suitably connected with the engines inpractice and all necessary additions are contemplated to make the devicean operative one.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1 l. A wagonbody, a truck, pivotally connected thereto a vertical shaft concentricwith the pivot connection between the bodyand the truck, a sleeve onsaid shaft, a sec- 0nd sleeve on the first-named sleeve having driven bysaid driving spindles, a gear connecting said driving spindles to thedriving shaft, a motor connected to said gear shaft, averticallyarranged beveled gear carried by the truck and engaged by the beveledgear of the second sleeve, a shifter rod pivotally connected to thevertically arran ed beveled gear and to the arm of one of t e steeringspindles, and means to turn the said truck pivotally so that thesteering spindle may be turned either with or independent of the truck.

2. A Wagon body, 'a spring truck pivotally connected thereto, alongitudinally extensible vertical shaft concentric with the pivotconnection between the bod and truck, a sleeve on said shaft, a second seeve on the first-named sleeve and having a spur gear and a beveledgear, a steering shaft mounted on the body and having apinion engagingsaid spur gear, driving spindles mounted on the truck, steering spindlespivotally mounted on the truck and connected ,together for simultaneousmovement and one provided with an arm, axle spindles having theirbearings in the steeringspindle and flexibly connected to and driven bysaid driving spindles, gears connectin said driving spindles to thedriving sha a motor geared to said shaft, a vertically arranged beveledgear carried by the truck-and en gaged with the beveledgear of thesecond sleeve, a shifter rod pivotally connected to the verticallyarranged bevel gear and to the arm of one'of the steering spindles and.means to turn said truck pivotally so that the steering spindle may beturned either with or independently of the truck.

. In testimon whereof I afiix my signature in presence 0 two witnesses.

WILLIAM V. YANDELL. Witnesses:

'JAnms A. Minna, MA'I'I'IE V. HANN.

